China's Lunar Calendar 2013 11-30

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT December 2.........................................................................................November 25 RIGHT

This is one in a never-ending series—following the movements of the calendar—in Round and Square perpetuity. It is today's date in the Chinese lunar calendar, along with basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying lunar calendars (and Chinese culture) for many years, you will likely find yourself asking "what does that mean?" I would caution that "it" doesn't "mean" any one thing. There are clusters of meaning, and they require patience, reflection, careful reading, and, well, a little bit of ethnographic fieldwork. The best place to start is the introduction to "Calendars and Almanacs" on this blog. I teach a semester-long course on this topic and, trust me, it takes a little bit of time to get used to the lunar calendar. Some of the material is readily accessible; some of it is impenetrable, even after many years. 

As time goes on, I will link all of the sections to lengthy background essays. This will take a while. In the meantime, take a look, read the introduction, and think about all of the questions that emerge from even a quick look at the calendar.

Section One
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom; right to left) 
三
十
六期星

  Eleventh Month, Thirtieth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, November 30

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

吉合天歲
期日德祿

Generational Emolument
Heavenly Virtue
Linked Days
Auspicious Temporal-slice

—————————————————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子

吉中凶

酉己丑

吉凶吉
戌午寅

凶凶中

亥未卯

凶吉中

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
03:00-05:00 In-Between
05:00-07:00 In-Between

07:00-09:00 In-Between
09:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

The hours above are for Hong Kong. It is up to you if you want to recalibrate or to assume that the cyclicality of the calendar "covers" the rest of the world. This is a greater interpretive challenge than you might think.

————————————————— 

Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌

取田問結
魚獵卜綱

Binding Nets

Forecasting Futures

Field Venery

Garnering Fish

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
八
庚
子
土
氐
除

Twenty-eighth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengzi (37/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Foundation (3/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————————————————— 

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
(and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

上開嫁祭
樑市娶祀
栽交納祈
種易采福
納修移會
畜造徙友
安動理出
葬土髮行
將陽
白大大咸
虎敗時池

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Yang General

Miscellaneous Information  

Widespread Pond
Great Temporality
Great Corruption
White Tiger

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

丫 火
Bifurcation, Fire
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

磨 碓 占

Mortar, Pestle, Divination